Lorillard

Lorillard is a family-owned group that was founded in Chartres in 1936. It developed rapidly under Jean Lorillard, who led the group until 2006, and under current CEO Loïc Bréhu has become one of France's leading players in the custom industrial joinery market. The current deal is intended to help Lorillard pursue its ambitious growth policy, allow changes in the shareholder group consisting of managers and employees alongside Loïc Bréhu, and organise the exit of certain financial and individual shareholders. To achieve those objectives, the deal is taking the form of a buyout, with staff increasing their interest in the group, long-standing shareholders reinvesting and two major financial partners - Crédit Mutuel Equity leading the deal and Crédit Agricole Régions Investissement - acquiring shares for the first time.

Lorillard is France's leading specialist producer and installer of custom-made, multi-material external joinery products. It is involved in the design and implementation of various construction projects including public and private sector buildings, working with both architects and private individuals. Lorillard offers a comprehensive range of windows and closures made from the three most common joinery materials (PVC, aluminium and wood), mainly for the refurbishment market. It has acknowledged expertise in its three business areas:
1) "worksite" activities, including installation services, which represents its original and largest division,
2) general public sales including installation, and
3) trade sales involving no installation work.
The worksite business has a strong market position because of Lorillard's skilled design department and the quality of its installation work, which have enabled it to win complex and demanding contracts including restorations of listed historic buildings (including the Louvre museum, Place Vendôme and the Claridge hotel on the Champs-Élysées) and large-scale newbuild projects (such as the Société Générale tower in La Défense).

Lorillard is a family-owned medium-sized business that employs 850 people and in 2015 generated consolidated revenue of €140 million across France through its main brands and subsidiaries: Lorillard, Lorenove, Lorebat, Plastibaie and recent addition Molénat.

After two changes in the shareholder structure, in 2007 and then 2010, Lorillard is now seeking to continue its development through the arrival of new financial shareholders: Crédit Mutuel Equity (formerly CM-CIC Investissement), which is leading the transaction, and Crédit Agricole Régions Investissement. The funding round will be organised as follows:

• Crédit Mutuel Equity: €13.3 million
• Crédit Agricole Régions Investissement: €3.7 million

" This represents a new chapter for Lorillard and the arrival of a new generation, including new CEO Thierry Luce," explained Loïc Bréhu. "We want to entrench our position as one of France's leading players, boost organic growth by strengthening our management team and R&D department, and be able to seize acquisition opportunities. To support us with our future development, we have selected partners with which we have close ties and who are capable of working with us over the long term." Loïc Bréhu has a clear target of achieving annual revenue of €200 million in the next five years.

"Lorillard had obvious appeal for us, since it is a well-known, family-owned, medium-sized business, and it has genuine strength because of the way in which it meets market demand across the three main materials (PVC, aluminium and wood), along with its broad range of products made in France. The quality of its service and its high-performance production system are undeniable assets for Lorillard as it continues to grow in France, bolstering its position as a leading player in the custom industrial joinery market," explained Thierry Aubert and Hélenn Lemaistre, Principals at Crédit Mutuel Equity.

Key figures

• 200 homes are refurbished every day.
• Annual production across all materials is 187,000 units or 1,100 units per day.
• Four production sites: Chartres (Eure-et-Loir); Decazeville (Aveyron); Pralong (Loire); St-Doulchard (Cher).
• Head office and main site: Chartres (Eure-et-Loir)
• Six "works" branches in large French cities (Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Lille) carry out 400 projects per year with a team of 100 staff.
• The "general public sales" business has a national network of 70 outlets.
• Lorillard has a number of certifications, including CSTB and CTBA accreditation for PVC, aluminium and wood joinery.

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